Anderson worked with Adams on "The Master," which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Paul Thomas Anderson has worked with Julianne Moore, Emily Watson, Lesley Manville, and more, but Amy Adams holds a special place in his heart. The “Phantom Thread” director spoke with Garage magazine for its new Adams cover story, and he showered the actress in tons of praise. The two worked together on “The Master,” where Adams played the manipulative wife to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s cult leader. “The Master” earned Adams an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

“She’s not very spectacular in real life. She’s just sort of… there,” Anderson said. “Turn the camera on her and it’s lighting a very large firework. It’s a gigantic explosion of talent and skill and creativity and charisma. She’s my favorite, as you can tell.”

“She’s never not surprising,” he continued. “The same girl did ‘The Fighter’ and ‘The Master’ and ‘The Muppets’? Give me a break. She can do absolutely anything—and better than anyone.”

After taking somewhat of a break in 2017 (her only film appearance was reprising Lois Lane in “Justice League”), Adams is coming back in a big way this year. This summer, Adams will join “Big Little Lies” director Jean-Marc Vallée for the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects,” adapted from the bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn. She’ll then appear on the big screen this fall in the awards contender “Backseat,” directed by Adam McKay.

Adams stars as Lynne Cheney in “Backseat,” the wife of Dick Cheney. She appears opposite Christian Bale in the movie for a third time following “The Fighter” and “American Hustle.” Adams stayed in character whenever she was on set, so much so that she did not speak to McKay as herself until filming ended. She was always in hair and makeup and using her Cheney voice with him, and the two would debate politics with Adams in character.

“When we wrapped I finally dropped the voice,” Adams told Garage, “and he was like, ‘No, this is too weird! I can’t even talk to you.’”